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The shambling masses of green-eyed townsfolk behind Malvina’s wagon, Gothetta and James looking through its wrought iron bars at Henry trailing beside them. He still wears the rags he had on before but the bandanna now sits across his neck, the hiding of his green tinted eyes no longer necessary. He also wears the backpack of eggs across his shoulders, Malvina putting him in charge of them after the trap was sprung.

“Henry, my sweet little love thing, please come to your senses and pull yourself free of Malvina’s treacherous drink. You aren’t acting like the big strong man I knew you as, please, hear my words and look into my eyes. Within them you may find the courage that you so desperately need.” Gothetta coos, batting her large eyelashes at him. He doesn’t respond, continuing to shamble forward with the rest of Malvina’s minions. Gothetta groans in annoyance and tries a different approach. “Oh come, snap out of it Henry! Listen to me! I'm your love companion, your lawfully wedded wife, your man-eating bed mate, your prancing forest doe! Fight back damnit!”

Malvina cackles and turns from the driver’s position to the doe.

“It’s pointless, you fanged little freak. I forced four whole pitchers of mind control potion down his throat and I assure you he won’t be having a sudden change of heart any time soon.”

“He’ll come around eventually, I know my Henry is in there somewhere. He resisted you once, he’ll do it again.” Gothetta fires back.

Malvina smiles.

“He gave me quite a fight you know, after I resummoned him. Banged that little pan of his against my head as hard as he could and you know what? He still lost! Humans aren’t meant for fighting and your Henry is no exception. Still, I did admire his bravery, and his hot-blooded vigor in the face of certain defeat. Perhaps I’ll keep him alive after I’ve plucked the chain from your sister’s cold, dead, paws. Maybe I’ll keep him around as a concubine of mine, an exotic little pet I can use to keep the other witches of the Thorny Coven jealous. I heard he has experience polishing antlers, and he’ll soon have plenty more! Ha!” She guffaws.

Gothetta simmers and puts her arms beyond the bars, reaching out for Malvina who proves just a few inches out of reach.

“You bitch! You whorish horned succubus with two sets of rotten lips! I’ll pull your last antler off! Just come a little closer!”

Griselda, hearing the cursing to her rear, turns around with her crossbow pointed right at Gothetta’s head.

“Settle down, you.” She sternly commands.

James puts a hand on Gothetta’s shoulder and gently pulls her away from the bars, tears streaming down her face.

“I hate you Malvina. I hate you! You won’t win. You won’t! Urmine will cut you down!” She cries, sitting down near the rear of the wagon. She takes Branwen’s hat off her head and looks at it with a forlorn stare, James sitting beside her, a warm arm draped across her bony shoulders.

Malvina rolls her eyes and looks at Henry.

“Human slave, what is her location now?”

Henry brings his ringed finger up and rubs its gemstone in mindless compliance.

“She’s just now arrived at the big holey.”

“Damnit.” Malvina mutters. “Looks like she got there before we did.”

“Will that be a problem?” Asks Griselda.

“No, no. Just wish we could have shot her down on the way there is all. Meeting her at the big holey will surely…complicate things.”

**********************************************************

Urmine sees the big holey come into view and starts a gentle descent. True to its name, the big holey was, well, a really big hole. Around five hundred yards in diameter and perfectly round, the hole was thought to be the unintended result of some ancient terra-mancer’s failed spell. Its true depth no one knew, anything thrown in could not be heard hitting the bottom and all lengths of roped proved too short to reach its maximum depth. As far as anyone knew it was truly bottomless. As Urmine descends she silently hopes it leads directly to hell.

She comes around to the center of the big holey and stops, holding her position above the bottomless void. Steeling her nerves, she nervously rubs the chain around her neck and waits for Malvina to arrive. Urmine goes over the plan in her head. First, threaten to throw the chain into the big holey once Malvina arrives. Then, offer an exchange. Urmine will get Henry, Gothetta, James, and the eggs, while Malvina will finally get her chain in return. Urmine will then fly down to the lip of the big holey for the handoff and when Malvina is within a few hoofsteps Urmine will throw the potion Murdy gave her against the ground. If Gothetta’s slip and fall back at Murdy’s hut was any indication Malvina should have no grip on the ground due to her hooves, and once Urmine mounts her broom again it’ll be easy to drag her into the hole. Then all she has to deal with is the witch hunter and that’s that. Urmine still wasn’t sure how she was going to take the witch hunter out, but she hopes a plan of attack will come to her when the fighting starts.

A rumbling from the road shifts her attention.

Through the trees she sees the wagon followed by the shambling horde of dead-eyed townspeople. They come to a stop by the tree line and the moose sisters dismount from the wagon. Seeing Urmine floating in the air, Griselda immediately puts her crossbow up aiming to shoot the bear but Malvina angrily swats it down.

“No you idiot!” She scolds her. “If she falls the chain falls with her!”

Griselda grits her teeth, looking rearward to the prisoners in the wagon.

“I feel I should remind you that the terms of our agreement involved me ending their lives, not taking them as prisoners or fleecing them for some irrelevant chain.”

“And the terms have changed! Follow my orders, sister. Or the guild may find a note from an anonymous informant containing details regarding your less than savory recent behavior.”

Griselda huffs and steps back, squinting angrily at her sister.

Malvina clears her throat and walks a few steps towards the hole, addressing the bear with open arms.

“First of all, as an intelligent witch such as yourself has likely have already figured out, I am in possession of the medallion.” She announces, taking the medallion out of her cloak and flashing it at Urmine. “So don’t think about trying to use that chain to persuade me to do anything, we’re equally empowered. Second of all, you have something I want, and I have something you want.” She shouts over, voice full of faux sincerity. “We can make a deal that benefits us both, promise! I simply want the chain, nothing more!”

The bear takes the chain off her neck, dangling it over the bottomless void.

“If you try anything, anything at all, I’m throwing it in.”

Malvina puts her hands in front of her in a plea.

“There’s no need for that! Here, I’ll free all your friends in an act of good faith, see?”

Malvina retrieves a large keyring from her cloak and tosses it over to Griselda who wordlessly complies, unlocking the large metal door on the rear of the wagon. James and Gothetta walk free and stop by the tree line, Griselda watching them from behind with her crossbow at the low ready.

Urmine leans forward on her broom, squinting in search of a few more loved ones.

“And where’s Henry? And the eggs?”

“Oh, yes, of course. Henry! Come here my sweet little monkey man!” Henry emerges from the crowd of townspeople and walks up to Malvina’s side, the moose putting an arm around his shoulders. “As you can see he’s safe and sound. He’s had a few pitchers of my delectable mind control potion but I assure you he’ll be back to normal once it wears off. And the eggs are safe in his backpack, warm and uncracked!”

“I don’t trust you. I want to see them.”

“Of course, a mother is entitled to see her childr-err, eggs every once in a while. Turn around dear, let me see your backpack.” Henry turns around and Malvina opens the pack, bringing out two large eggs, one orange with green spots, and the other purple with ebony speckles. “Here they are. They’re heavy for their size, if you don’t mind me saying.”

“I do mind. So keep any mention of my or my sister’s hatchlings off your slimy tongue, moose.”

“Sure, sure. However…” Malvina puts the purple and black egg back in the backpack but keeps the other egg in her palm. She whispers a spell under her breath and a small flurry of ice and snow dance above her free hand. “I do need a way to keep you honest, and I understand that these eggs of yours hate to get chilly. So until our little exchange is finalized I’ll be keeping this egg here in my possession.”

“Keeping an unborn child as hostage? I’ve eaten squids with more spine than you!” James shouts.

Malvina shoots him an angry glare but, with great effort, restrains herself from dishing out any punishment for his outburst. She turns back to Urmine.

“So how about it, Urmine? You give me the chain, and I give you back your loved ones.”

“Okay. I’m coming over now. And remember, try anything funny and I’m throwing the chain into the bottomless abyss!”

The bear slowly floats to the lip of the hole and Malvina looks to her sister, motioning for her to come closer.

“Alright sister, go to the lip of the big holey and retrieve the chain from her.”

Griselda backs away, spitting at her hooves.

“You’re the one who wants the chain, you go get it! I don’t exist to run your errands, little sister.”

“Fine, coward.” Malvina growls, walking towards the hole. “But watch my back and load a homing bolt in your crossbow. If things get dicey I don’t want a bolt to accidentally find its way into my back from your poor aim.”

Griselda mutters a few curses and reloads her crossbow, watching her sister approach the meeting point.

As Urmine approaches the ground she keeps the chain hanging in her paw above the void, the ever-present threat of losing it filling Malvina’s mind. Urmine eventually reaches the lip of the hole and dismounts her broom, standing right on its edge. Malvina inches closer step by cautious step, egg and icy hand held out in front of her. When she was about fifteen paces away she stops, raising her voice.

“Alright Urmine, I think I’ve done my part. Now come closer so we can hand each other the goods.”

“No, if I come any closer your friend will send a bolt flying at me and after I fall you’ll pluck the chain from my dead body. You come to me.”

“And if I come to you you’ll throw me into that hole at the last second. Don’t think I'm stupid. And don’t even think of taking your broom with you either, we both know how one sided a fight is between a broomed witch and an unbroomed witch. We’ll be doing this exchange on fair, even ground or we won’t be doing it all.”

Urmine feels her paws grow sweaty. If Malvina refused to come closer then getting rid of her would be much harder. Sure, it would still be possible with Murdy’s potion, but without Urmine’s broom nearby there’s nothing preventing her from getting cut down by the witch hunter in the ensuing fight or even getting dragged into the hole along with Malvina. So either step closer and open herself up to attack, or refuse and allow Malvina to have the initiative in whatever came next. Both are bad options, but-

The moose breaks her train of thought.

“Well bear? It’s just a few steps closer. Show a little bravery why don’t you? Your hatchling’s future just might depend on it…” She threatens, bring the swirling ice and egg just a little closer.

Urmine cringes upon seeing the egg in danger and makes a decisive choice.

“…Okay. I’m coming to you.”

“Good, just a few steps, that’s all it’ll take.”

Urmine slowly closes the distance between them, her gaze rapidly switching between the egg and the moose’s ill-proportioned face. She’s twelve paces away, then eleven, ten, nine, eight. With each step away from the hole her heartbeat increases and her mind races with unwanted dark thoughts. Seven paces away, six, five, four-

A flash of movement! Malvina throws the egg in the air towards Urmine!

The bear catches the egg but when her eyes return to Malvina she’s in a low crouch and running towards her, arms wide as she’s poised to tackle Urmine to the ground. The bear thinks quickly and reaches into the bust of her dress, taking out the bottle of potion and throwing it at her own feet. In less than a second the ground turns to ice all around them, even reaching down into the depths of the big holey.

On her very next step Malvina loses her footing, crashing to the ground in a slide forward. Still focused on claiming the chain, she wraps her arms around Urmine’s feet and brings her down as well, the two of them engaged in a frantic struggle across the icy ground as they both slide towards the edge of the hole.

Back at the tree line Griselda raises her crossbow and takes on a shooting stance. She aims at the bear, puts her finger on the trigger and-

“Gah!” She screams, two sharp fangs digging their way into her forearm.

Gothetta growls as best a doe can and wiggles her head around to sink her fangs into Griselda’s flesh even deeper. The moose struggles to shake her off, but eventually manages to pry the doe’s jaws free from her arm and give her a sharp elbow to the head, dazing her as she falls to the ground. The moose takes aim once again only to be disrupted when a fist impacts her jaw, knocking a tooth loose. She spits it out and looks to the gray-haired human who just dared assault her. Griselda brings a fist back and returns the favor, hitting him square in the cheek with a might blow.

To the moose’s bewilderment, James barely even flinches. He spits out a gob of blood and wipes his moustache, smiling.

“Been a while since I was in a bare-knuckle brawl. Normally we would limit our violence to in and around seedy shore side bars, but for you I’ll make an exception.”

He brings his fists up and charges the moose, letting loose a flurry of blows. Griselda manages to step back while blocking as best she can, reaching into her cloak and unsheathing a short sword. Seeing the bladed weapon James steps back, only for a recovered Gothetta to jump up and sink her fangs into Malvina’s wrist, causing the moose to drop her sword. James then jumps back into the fight, taking on the towering moose with the fanged fawn at his side.

By the edge of the big holey, Urmine and Malvina continue to punch, scratch, kick, and grab at each other as they slide across the ice.

“Give me that chain!” Malvina yells, attempting to snatch the chain away only for Urmine to move it just out of reach. “It’s mine! Mine-mine-mine!”

Urmine bares her teeth and bites Malvina’s hand, the moose pulling it away with a pained cry. Urmine then secures the chain in her mouth and swats at the moose with her claws, producing several large oozing gashes across Malvina’s muzzle. Yet the pain only seems to enrage her even further, Malvina grabbing at Urmine’s face and pulling her fur out before giving the bear a mighty kick in the stomach. Urmine bellows in pain, but manages to keep the egg and the chain secure by her body. In their tumble Urmine catches a glimpse of the big holey and finds it far too close for comfort.

Sensing that if she didn’t try something quick they would both end up tumbling off the edge, Urmine takes the egg and pushes it away from her, the hatchling sliding across the ice to safety. The bear then takes both paws and slams them into the ice, her curved claws digging in and slowing their trip into oblivion. Malvina, sensing an opening, crawls up Urmine’s body and pries her mouth open, snatching the chain from her jaws. But before she could make an escape Urmine brings a paw up and grabs the chain with an iron grip.

“Let go of it you bearish buffoon! This chain is mine! It calls to me and me alone! I’ll-whoa-whoa-whoa-ahhh!”

Malvina tumbles across the edge and Urmine with her. Their descent is only halted by Urmine digging the claws on her free paw even deeper into the ice. Hanging onto the edge of the abyss, Urmine looks below her to see Malvina hanging onto the chain. Malvina swings her feet around, attempting to find nonexistent purchase in a blind panic. She eventually looks up to Urmine, quickly putting on a smile.

“Urmine, you brave witch you, I know that we’ve had our differences in the past, but forgiveness is a truly saintly virtue, one that I’m sure you possess in droves! I-I take back everything I said about chimeras in the past and I promise to never cause you trouble again! I've been a very, very, bad witch and I swear I’ll find some way to make it up to you! You can even hand me over to the inquisition if it means escaping with my life! Just…just…just keep a strong grip on this chain, will you? A bit of mercy is all I ask.”

Urmine looks at the grinning moose with a cold, stoic expression.

“If it was mercy you were after you’re looking at the wrong sister. You want the chain? Then have it!”

Malvina’s smile slowly dies as she realizes what Urmine’s about to do. Urmine releases her grip on the chain and Malvina shoots downward into the inky abyss, a look of sheer panic etched onto her face. The last thing Urmine sees of them is the golden shimmer of the chain disappearing into the darkness, followed by Malvina’s panicked scream echoing off the walls until it deadened into nothing but a faint cry.

Urmine takes a deep breath. Malvina now dealt with, the egg slid to safety, her main priority is making it out of this hole in the ground lest she share Malvina’s fate. She takes her free paw and grabs the icy wall with it. She digs the claws on her feet into the wall of ice as well, using them to slowly climb upwards. Yet one frightening realization hit her as she nears the top, the ice is already melting.

Gothetta has attached herself to Griselda’s leg like a blood sucking tick, fangs digging into her calf as the moose desperately tries to choke out the sailor who’s doing the same to her. The man and moose stare into each other’s eyes as their grips on the other’s throat tightens. Veins bulging out of James’ face, Griselda’s teeth grinding against each other as she clings to consciousness, the two were only brought out of their mutual strangulation by a high-pitched scream off by the big holey. Turning their heads, they see Malvina fall out of sight soon followed by Urmine. Griselda lets go of James and kicks Gothetta off her leg, sprinting to the edge of the hole soon followed by James and Gothetta. They arrive to find Urmine desperately clinging to a wall of mushy ice, frantically trying to find purchase with her hands and feet.

“Help!” Urmine pleas.

James leans over the edge and reaches an arm out.

“Here! Take my hand!”

She grabs his hand and he pulls her up. She looks around, panting.

“The egg, where’s the egg?”

“A touch chilly, but safe and sound.” Answers the doe, the egg nestled in her arms.

“Thank the heavens.”

Griselda stares into the inky abyss.

“Malvina?” She shouts, her own voice echoing back at her.

Hearing no response, she steps away from the edge and looks to the chimeras and human.

“Well, there goes my paycheck.” She remarks with a frown, turning back towards the wagon.

Gothetta recoils in disbelief.

“You…your sister is dead and you aren’t even going to try and fight us?”

Griselda looks back with a shrug.

“I came here for a job. If no one’s around to pay me for it then there’s no reason for me to be here. And regarding my sister’s passing, well, she had it coming. I always knew she would go down like this, and frankly I'm surprised it was someone other than me that did her in. Now if you don’t mind, I need to get the hell out of here.”

Griselda walks away and the three of them huddle by the lip of the hole, still coming to terms with what just happened. That is until a loud boom comes from the abyss and they’re thrown back by a gust of wind, Griselda halting and turning around at the noise. The big holey seems to come alive as they stare on in horror, beams of ethereal light and crackles of energy filling the air as a single being rises from its maw.

Malvin rises from the darkness with a wild cackle. Clothed in a flowing green dress rather than her usual ragged cloak and with her eyes glowing red with power, the chain and medallion now sit across her neck, finally combined. She looks to the sky and raises her arms as she floats above the ground, coming to a stop several dozen feet above the mere mortals below her.

“You!” She booms, pointing a crooked finger at Urmine. “Almost had me! Sinking into that endless abyss, the darkness closing in around me, the chain and medallion nearly slipped from my fingers as I combined them in the darkness. But now I…am…a…goddess! Ha-ha-ha!” Lighting shoots from her fingers and her eyes glow even brighter as she laughs above them, drunk with unworldly power. “I can control everything, and everyone! I am limitless! Even the laws of nature must bow to my demands!”

She does a few spins in the air to demonstrate how gravity was nothing but a mere suggestion to her now.

“I am half horned no longer!” She wills her cut off antler to regrow and it obeys, the stub where it once stood immediately forming back into a full antler. “And the world will shake at my passing! My coming will be foretold by a raging storm! But even the strongest hurricane will pale in comparison to my own wretched fury!”

She points her hands to the sky and it immediately darkens, dark clouds forming as streaks of lightning flicker in the distance and resounding booms of thunder echo across the forest. She continues.

“Yes! Yes! I will build an army from the weak willed and feeble minded! They will obey my every command and sweep across the land in limitless number, storming every town, crushing every city, purging every fool who dares stand in my way! Yes! And they’ll be led by none other than my dear sister, I’ll soon put your martial talents to use, oh yes.”

Griselda looks at her sister with a look of sheer disbelief and holds her crossbow at the low ready.

“That isn’t what we agreed upon.”

“Are you truly going to argue with a goddess? It is my will! You will serve me!”

Griselda shakes her head.

“You said the townspeople would go free. That I could leave after it was all done. I have no motivation nor inclination to serve in any army. Especially not one run by you.”

“If you will not go willingly, then I will have to-“

*THWING*

In a flash Griselda raises her crossbow and fires, the bolt streaking towards the floating ‘goddess’. The bolt appears that it’s going to strike true, but changes course at the last minute, flying harmlessly into the surrounding trees.

“Ha!” Malvina snorts. “Shooting me with a bolt I enchanted. I always was the smarter one.”

“But this one isn’t!”

Griselda shoots her crossbow before she’s even finished speaking, another bolt flying towards Malvina. This time Malvina raises her arms and turns away, only for the bolt to come to a sudden halt mere inches from her face. Malvina slowly lowers her arms with a chuckle.

“This world’s strongest witch hunter poses no more threat to me as does its strongest termite.” She reaches out, twisting the bolt so it faces towards its sender. “Now you will pay for your final act of insubordination!”

The bolt shoots towards Griselda with unnatural speed. She only manages to take a single step back before the bolt pierces her chest, instantly perforating her heart. She looks down, bolt sticking out of her chest, blood coating the ground, limbs growing numb, vision growing blurry, and only manages to murmur an indistinct curse before collapsing. Griselda stares into the dark sky and her eyes glaze over, her life having left her.

Gothetta watches her fall with a shocked cry, hands held over her mouth. Hearing this, Malvina turns to the three huddled masses by the edge of the hole.

“Now, what to do with you. Ah, that’s it, yes, a fitting end.” She looks to her crowd of minions still standing by the wagon. “Empty headed fools! Form a perimeter and make sure they can’t escape. Then advance upon them and push them into the hole when you get close. Quickly now! Before I lose my patience!”

Her green-eyed lackeys rush over and form a half circle, cutting them off from any avenue of escape. They then begin to slowly creep towards the huddled group, their faces blank and minds devoid of mercy. Malvina smiles as she sees their doom approach.

“Heh, now once you three are at the bottom of the big holey, assuming it even has a bottom, there’ll be nothing left between me and my inevitable victory. I think I’ll start with the grand college of mages, they always did seem too pretentious for my liking. And I remember how they denied my application all those years ago, uhg! Then I’ll move to the war college off by the coast. They can shoot me with all their cannons, and muskets, and crossbows, they can try to stick me with their bayonets and swords, but none will find their mark! I’ll win all the same! Ha-ha-ha!”

Malvina lets off another victorious cackle, but then her head turns towards her victims below, the line of townspeople drawing ever closer.

“Oh, but you know what? I think I’ll pluck a souvenir from you before I start my warpath. A little keepsake, to remind me of the fate that all who oppose me deserve. Death!”

She reaches an arm out towards Gothetta, tugging on the hat atop her head with an invisible hand. Gothetta shouts and pulls Branwen’s hat closer to her head, yet all this does is drag her across the ground kicking and screaming. When she reaches the edge of the hole she has no choice but to let go, the hat floating up to Malvina. She grabs the brim and places it atop her head.

“I think I’ll keep your mother’s ugly hat for a while. Maybe I’ll find some other trinkets on it that could prove useful. Or perhaps I’ll place it upon my mantle as a trophy when this is all over. But for now, it’ll rest between my antlers.”

The sky darkens further as the group of townsfolk continue to close in on James, Gothetta, and Urmine, the three of them huddling together out of instinct, as if it may delay their inevitable defeat. Malvina is content to merely watch, her arms folded in front of her chest, a smug smile on her muzzle.

*BOOM-CRACK-CRACK-CRACK*

Directly above her, the clouds flicker and light up with energy.

Though it’s true Malvina possesses a tremendous deal of magical power, capable of bending near anything she sets her gaze on to her will, there was one physical constraint she still had to abide by. That being the speed of the connection between all those neurons making up her mind. She scarcely has time to acknowledge, or counteract, or even view, the bolt of lightning as it streaked towards her.

In a moment, her world turned from one she knew into a single, bright, blinding, all-consuming light. The huddled group watch on as the tremendous bolt of lightning pierces her body and arcs from the sky, to her hat, to her medallion, to her hooves, then to the wettened ground in front of them, the ice from Urmine’s potion having fully melted.

Malvina shudders, and spasms, and contorts her limbs into unnatural positions as the energy easily surges through the metal adorned hat and into her body. When the bolt of lighting finally runs its course she hangs in the air, limp but still airborne. Black smoke rises from her shoulders and her green dress is burnt all over, the once beautiful green shimmering garment now an ash-stained rag.

She takes a ragged breath, not entirely sure what just happened, and raises an arm slick with burnt flesh and acrid fur towards the group below her. She opens her mouth with the intent to unleash a spell that would take their lives, but before the first word even slips off her tongue another bolt of lightning shoots down from the heavens, even louder and more powerful than the last.

She’s forced into an undulating scream as her limbs are locked at their full extension. Overcome with energy, her antlers split and crack, her fur smolders, her muscles lose all control and her brain is well and truly cooked. The lightning comes down in several successive surges until finally ending with a single deafening crack. With the final surge the medallion and chain glow red hot until exploding into hundreds of tiny white-hot fragments, all of them drifting into the black void below. When it’s over Malvina remains in the air for several more seconds, until her head lolls to the side and she falls downward into the abyss with an eerie quietness.

As she descends Branwen’s hat glides off her head, tumbling through the air like a feather. Eager to save the only family heirloom she has left, Gothetta stands up and rushes to the edge of the big holey, catching the hat just as it was about to fall out of her reach forever.

“Ow!” She yelps, waving a hand in the air. “It’s hot!”

James and Urmine look at the mob of townsfolk surrounding them. The mob stop in their tracks, then the green hue in their eyes flickers and disappears. They all fall to the ground and Urmine rushes towards the mass of bodies. She quickly finds Henry, propping him up on her lap and supporting his head with a paw.

“Henry? Wake up Henry, it’s over, she’s gone.”

Henry’s eyes open and he rubs his forehead, groggily returning to reality with a splitting headache.

“Ah, what happened?” He mumbles. “Where am I?”

“We’re by the big holey, Malvina just had the shock of her life and I’ve got one hell of a story to tell you…”

As the townspeople around them slowly return to their senses James walks up to Gothetta. She’s holding Branwen’s hat, staring into the rapidly clearing sky.

“Well Gothetta, it’s all over. We can rest easy now.”

“Uh-huh.” She disinterestedly replies, eyes still glued to the sky.

He looks upwards with her.

“I don’t think I’ve seen the sky clear so fast before, is that what you’re looking at?”

She softly shakes her head.

“No, it was the strangest thing. Just as the clouds began to clear, I swear I saw a bird take off from one.”