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Fire surged toward the ceiling, circling and lifting, engulfing Grainna

Tara stood with her hands extended and her eyes closed The force of the wind blew her hair back

Duncan stood at her side and watched in awe

A swirling vortex opened above the flames Pitch black, the current pulled Grainna away Her screa the flames with her The fiery cyclone shut the vortex as quickly as it opened, but with a defining silence

Everything went still

Emptied, Tara stu

When her eyes opened, he was all she saw They held to each other, assuring themselves the other hole

“’Tis over,” he said

She couldn’t get close enough to hioing to lose you”

He pulled back and kissed her bruised and battered lips “Never,” he said when heand deep When she winced, he released her lips

“How did you kno to banish her?”

Puzzled, Tara shook her head “The Ancients

Didn’t you see them?”

“Here? You saw them here?”

She nodded “You ed room “Nay, my love, I didn’t see them No one has seen them outside of dreaone, because they were here, guiding me”

“Then it is finished”

“For today” Her hand went to her neck where blood still trickled For today She released a long sigh, stepped back and looked at the burned mark on the floor, then up at her husband “Take us hory” She passed a hand over her stoathered the horses, tossed Lancaster’s still unconscious body on the back of hisat the building that had been her prison

It was only wood and stone, but the cottage held the essence of Grainna

Her undying evil

Tara raised her hands again Branches around the building blew in, leaves covering the ground rose up and enco and turning until no sign of the cottage beneath could be seen Within ed by the underbrush Anyone passing would only see overgrown forest and not think to stop

Duncan helped Tara upon her horse and slowly made their way out of the forest

She rode in silence on the way back to the Keep

He let her have the solitude of her thoughts His own plagued hi that had happened

When she started to laugh, he couldn’t have been ?”

“Did you see her face? God that was rich ‘I’ll be back!’” She ht I watched tooshe won’t” Duncan’s words sobered her slightly

“We’ll be ready if she does Noe knohat she’s capable of, she won’t be able to use the sa look