"He's coming for us," Elora whispered, her voice cracking. "I can feel him in the air."
The silence returned, but this time it was peaceful. Elora sank to her knees, her breath coming in ragged gasps. Willow walked over and placed a small, weathered hand on her shoulder. "You did it," he said softly. "I just wanted him to go away," she replied. "He's coming for us," Elora whispered, her voice cracking
The road to the was still long, and the Crones were still watching, but for the first time, the girl who was a kitchen maid felt like a queen. Willow walked over and placed a small, weathered
Willow smiled, a rare spark of hope in his eyes. "That is exactly how it starts." The road to the was still long, and
"Elora! Now!" Willow shouted, his face contorting with the effort of holding back the darkness. "The spark is in you! Use it!"
Willow stepped forward, planting his feet. He began an incantation in a tongue that sounded like grinding stones. A barrier of shimmering light flickered into existence, catching a bolt of necrotic energy launched by the Lich. The air hissed. The smell of ozone filled the clearing.
Elora Danan, the girl who had spent her life as "Dove," the kitchen maid, looked at her hands. They were trembling. Only hours ago, she had been captured by the , agents of a darkness she barely understood. She had escaped, but the woods felt like a cage. Every snap of a twig sounded like the clicking teeth of the Lich , the terrifying sorcerer-assassin hunting her through the brush.