Anne Bishop - The House of Gaian

Selena raised her hand and the pairs of riders broke formation, shifting to become a staggered line with her in the lead. She swung to the left, taking the line with her. Dark horse and gray passed each other with barely any daylight between them.

Morag rode on, turning back toward the trees at the far end of the field. Selena continued her wide curve around the stones. As she rode, with Rhyann behind her, a circle of moonlight and fire began to form. Wind whipped around the stones, splintering arrows before they could touch the riders.

She changed back to her human form and stood up.

"Ashk?" Liam said warily. "What's happening?"

"Can you move?" she replied, evading his question. When he nodded, she retrieved his sword and handed it to him. "Let's go."

She walked back to her horse, picked up her bow and quiver, and headed for the stones, not even looking back to see if he followed, terrifyingly aware that she and Liam were the only people alive in that part of the field.

The last rider following Selena swung into place, completing the circle. They circled again. And once more. The ground trembled. The wind howled. Lightning slashed the sky, bringing with it a brief cloudburst of rain. And fire ringed the circle made around the stones.

As the last circle was completed, Selena swung left again, turning Mistrunner sharply back to face the stones. The others swung out of the circle and went past her, turning back until they formed a crescent with Selena at its center.

Selena raised her arms. The cloudburst ended. Moments later, the sun shown down upon the field. And still moonlight glowed around the circle, forming a barrier.

"Witch's Hammer!" Selena shouted. "Show yourself, Master Inquisitor, or someone else will bargain for you!"

Nothing happened. There were plenty of men moving among the stones, but no one answered. Finally, a cloaked, hooded figure appeared.

"What are you to think you can bargain with me?" a growling voice shouted back.

"I am vengeance—and I am justice. You tried to reshape our world to your own liking—and you have failed. We stand, and we will always stand. We are the Mother's Daughters. We are the Mother's Sons. We are the Pillars of the World. We are the House of Gaian. And we are going to grant your wish. You and your followers are exiled from this world, Inquisitor, but we will give you another to shape as you will." Selena raised her arms higher. "I call earth!"

"We call earth!" the Sons and Daughters repeated.

"I call air!"

"We call air!"

"I call water!"

"We call water!"

"I call fire!"

"We call fire!"

Power flowed into the circle. Flowed and flowed.

"By the light of the sun, by the light of the moon, by the four branches of the Mother, we make a world beyond this world, anchored to it but never a part of it. We make it out of dreams and will." Selena pointed at the Witch's Hammer. "As you will, so mote it be."

The ground shook. Lightning flashed. The fire that formed a circle rose so high Ashk could no longer see the stones.

The power swirled inside the circle. Swirled and swirled.

Then, with a tremendous thunderclap that knocked Ashk to the ground, it was gone.

Adolfo slowly got to his feet and looked around. Stone. Nothing but stone. And a spear of gold and silver light no thicker than a fist touching the stone a man's length in front of him and rising up, up, up until it disappeared somewhere in that vaulted ceiling of stone.

He didn't like that light. Hated that light. It felt… clean… and repulsive. He moved away from it. He had no trouble seeing. Fire burned among the stones, and the air reeked with the smell of sulfur. He tore off the cloak that now felt too hot and confining and went searching for the water he could hear trickling nearby. It spilled out from a crack and pooled in a hollowed stone that formed a basin. Bending over, he lapped the water. It tasted of blood, of gore, of rotting bodies. Delicious.

He heard voices below him, saw the rocks piled together to make rough stairs leading down into the stones and the fire.

"What happened?" asked one frightened voice. "Where are we?"

"Where's Master Adolfo?" another voice said. Then, shouting, "Master! Master Adolfo?"

He walked down those rough stairs, moving toward the voices.

"Where are we?"

"It's— Mother's mercy! This is the Fiery Pit! We've been thrown into the Fiery Pit!"

There is no Mother here , Adolfo thought. Only the Master. Only. . .

Hunger.

He followed the curve of the stairs, stopping when he saw them. Wolfram barons. Sylvalan barons. Guard captains and bowmen. His . . .

Meat.

. . . Inquisitors. His…

Feast.

. . . followers. He would show them the glory of the world he'd created for them. He would show them he was …

Hunger.

… was …

An Inquisitor looked up, saw him, and screamed, " It's the Evil One !"

He laughed as he watched them flee, running deeper and deeper into the Pit.

Feast.

He followed them deeper into the Pit. And he hunted.

Frowning, Selena studied the sky above the stones. The Black Coats and their followers were gone, so the magic had worked, but where was the anchor of light?

One by one, the Sons and Daughters rode away from the stones to help the humans deal with the prisoners and find the wounded until only Rhyann stood with her. Then Ashk joined her… and Liam.

"I don't see the anchor," Selena said quietly. Steam rose from the ground inside the circle—ground that was now cracked and barren.

"There." Ashk pointed to a glow barely visible among the stones.

"But"—Rhyann shook her head—"it's going down. Why would it go down?"

A chill went through Selena. "Dreams and will. His dreams. His will. He made the world he wanted. Mother have mercy."

"Vengeance and justice," Ashk said. "You gave him both, Huntress, in a way no one else could have."

Selena turned to look at Liam, who stared at her with unreadable eyes. "I am sorry the anchor had to be placed here." She hesitated. "Your people should build a wall just beyond the circle. What was made here… I don't know what would happen to anyone who stepped onto that barren ground or climbed among those stones."

"When all the bodies are given back to the Mother, this will be a field of the dead. I don't think anyone will go near those stones after what happened here today, but we'll build the wall."

Aiden and Lyrra rode up on Minstrel, followed by Breanna and Falco on another horse. Aiden helped Lyrra slide down from behind him before dismounting. Hand in hand, they came forward. "It's done?"

Selena nodded. "The Witch's Hammer and his followers are gone."

Morphia rode up, followed by a few of the Fae. She gave them a brilliant smile, her face lit with happiness and relief as she dismounted to join them. "Ashk! Morag's here. Did you see her? I only caught a glimpse of her as she rode back into the trees, but she's here."

Selena felt Ashk shudder. Then Rhyann said, "Selena," in a quiet, tense voice.

She heard a muffled cry of fear, watched men scatter, leaving a clear path for the dark horse that walked toward her.

"Morag!" Morphia called. Then, puzzled and a little fearful, "Morag?"

Selena saw Aiden and Lyrra rush over to Morphia. She heard Liam whisper, "Mother's mercy." And she felt Ashk walk away as Morag dismounted and walked closer to them.

Morphia's face crumpled in disbelief and horror. " Morag !"

Selena grabbed Rhyann's arm, pulling her sister behind her. An illusion of protection, nothing more. But Morag stopped a man's length in front of her. She saw something savage in those dark eyes, something that would ride through villages and leave nothing but empty corpses in its wake. But the woman Morag must have been was also shining out of those dark eyes, pained and so weary.