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Rhiannon paused For a hed, and her laughter was like an icicle through the heart Rhia stepped back and held out her hands, dropping the stake on the ground

She whispered, "Fire, burn through ertips, surrounding Heather, lighting the gossaown afla on the cloth The nextthe burning material When she rose, a h, too, hter" Another whisper, and this ti I lostover a tree trunk Chatter and Grieve caught hold of trees to keep the a dark chant, deep and ancient, and terrifyingly old, and the tree next to Rhia began to topple toward her I screa her around the waist and rolling clear just as the tree landed where she’d been standing

I unfurled my fan "Tornado force" With a wave of my hand, the fan let out a lol as a funnel cloud appeared, ripping trees from the roots as it headed directly toward Heather My aunt screamed as the twister bore down on her She held up her hands

"Rock and boulder!" The earth shook between the force of the tornado and the thrusting up of soe boulder propelling itself to the surface Heather ducked behind it as the twister raged over her Any noric-born or yummanii would have died froo Court She held on to the rock, her fingers exerting incredible strength to keep herself fro sucked into the vortex

As the tornado shrieked off, I felt a trehbut I had no tirabbed my stake--this could end only one way--and headed over toward Heather

But Rhiannon was in front of me She’d broken free of Chatter, and stake raised, she raced to her mother Her other hand was a ball of fla fire that seeain, when Rhiannon reached out and sent the ball of flaht into Heather’s face

Heather screaht her hair and sparked it to life, her red locks becoround, rolling, but as she did so, Rhiannon leaped on her, catching her on her back She straddled Heather, bringing the stake up above her head with a wild-eyed, glassy look

"You would kill your own mother?" Heather’s voice was soft, so much like it had been before she’d been captured Her face a rabbed her

Rhiannon began to choke as she struggled against Heather’s grasp In a raspy voice, she gasped out, "You are not my mother You are not my mother" Tears raced down her cheeks and fell onto Heather’s face, sizzling against the burned flesh

And then, in a silent moment, Heather paused Her hands fell away from Rhiannon’s neck, and she spread the down at Heather

"You have seconds, only seconds, my love," Heather whispered "Please, just do it Release me I can only keep hold of my sanity for a few seconds at a tiht to the death or you will surely die I a, I can bend the earth to s us up Rhiannon, o" Heather’s voice was tender, like I remembered from childhood

"Mother…I can save you--I can…" And then Rhia stopped and shook her head "I can’t save you There’s no coh the burned flesh that scarred her face "Unlike Grieve, I died I will never live again And I choose not to live in this state, controlled by a s since she took me I cannot live with them on my conscience Either I becoift of death, Rhia Please, please, don’t make me live like this"

Bloody tears poured down her face Rhia began to sob and so did I But we had no choice We had moments, perhaps seconds, before Heather faded back into the freak that Myst had created I slowly knelt beside the Heather on the forehead

"I’et here in time to save you, I’ liain I turned to Rhia "Quickly It has to be now Do you want me to do it?"

"Help avethe stake above Heather’s chest

Heather smiled, then, in one last hter, Cicely Know that And Rhiannon--you will know your father in time Trust me You will know" She closed her eyes and a snarl came to her lips "Now, before I retreat--now, it ht to Rhia’s hands She was gripping the stake with an uncanny strength, but she was frozen I caan to drive the stake doard Heather’s chest Rhia dropped her head back, a silent scream on her face, and she ripped the stake froed it into Heather’s chest by herself A spray of blood fountained up, spattering us both, leaving a dappling of criainst the snow

Heather let out a low screa the slipstream, and then a rush of wind passed by, and Ulean was there, cloaking us My aunt lay still, a bloody symbol of e’d been driven to

Rhia stared at her, a look of horror on her face And then Chatter and Grieve were there, lifting us up, away from Heather’s body As they led us away, Kaylin went in and what he did, I could not see, but e turned, the body was no longer there, just a spreading cried around us A small pile of dust whipped up and away, into the wind

I let out a shudder, then a sigh, and pressed my face into Grieve’s shoulder He kissedand fierce, and I lost ainst mine, of his body entwined around ues barely touching, softly dancing under the falling snow, until the exquisite pain of losingher die at our hands, was forced back into a corner, and blessed nuli the sa her, and she had lost herself in his embrace My heart skipped a beat This was the way it was supposed to be Rhiannon and Chatter Grieve and ht It felt true

Another moment passed, then Kaylin cleared his throat "We should be off I know it’s hard, but we have to reach Grandfather Cedar We aren’t far Let’s go"

I broke away froo" As we took up our ht We’d just killed the one woht of as rasp We’d given Heather the final gift, that of release

I hung back, reaching for Rhiannon’s hand We walked awhile, trudging through the snow, hand in hand She see The nu

And whatever lay ahead of us, ould e and do our best, no matter the outco to Chatter Across a little clearing, we could see the cedar from my dreams--the cedar Lainule had indicated as the entrance to the tunnels leading to her heartstone

"Grandfather Cedar," Grieve whispered, a reverence in his voice And indeed, the tree was taller than ainst the sky, a sentinel guarding the forest, with a trunk wide enough to build a home in "We must find the tunnel"