Raste extended his hands, pouring Darkness into Ceres with renewed vigor. She jerked her head back, mouth open, eyes squeezed shut, and face contorted in anguish. Her body shook with an unnatural violence as the Darkness assaulted her. Her nearly silent guttural scream ripped at Waithe's heart. What confidence he held earlier began to wither.

With a sudden angry surge of effort Waithe sliced through the bonds that held his hands behind his back, so much so that the hidden knife also drew a trickle of blood from his wrist. He unraveled the leather cords without the guards' seeing and quickly plotted an attack against Raste.

But before he leaped up an unexpected warmness coursed through him, reaching deep into his heart. It soothed his anxiety and renewed his confidence. He knew that feeling, the Woman of Light's touch. There was more this time, a surreal dream-like feeling, much like the time Ceres cured him of the Taint. The air around him faintly shimmered with Magic.

Waithe tightened his resolve and blew out a breath. He knew what to do. As the Woman of Light said: 'help her love'.

He summoned up visions of his past with a little girl named Aala and poured out his heart.

The midwife handed a newborn to the mother, the birth cries quieted as they cuddled. Tears of joy lined her cheeks as Fera smiled at the tiny girl and cooed. "My dear precious Aala, know from the very beginning that you be loved."

The little girl searched with widened eyes. Where had her parents gone? Squeals of laughter erupted every time they emerged from their hiding place behind a blanket.

Waithe called out again into the night, "Aala!" The little girl emerged from the darkness and ran to him, collapsing into his arms. He whispered to the sobbing girl. "You be found again, little lost one. Safe be you now."

Ceres brought her head back upright and her face relaxed to a hint of a smile. Waithe's heart leaped. His visions were reaching her. His heart stirred again as she contributed to them.

The young girl gathered produce from the master's garden. The sparkling green light appeared to her yet again. This must be a Spirit. She smiled as it flashed and gyrated around her, teasing her with its dance. Unable to resist, she dropped the harvest and danced too.

The old woman called out "Dinner be ready!" They gathered at the table, the head Medice gardener, his kind wife, and the lonely teenage girl they took into their home. Together, holding hands, they offered a simple prayer of thanksgiving to the Creator God.

Two teen girls dashed behind the bush, giggling as they peered out between the branches at the object of their prank. Ceres whispered between bouts of laughter to her companion. "Oh, Sharm, that was epic. But now we shall be in so much trouble."

Raste renewed his Darkness assault on the Lady of the Order before him. It flowed from his fingertips in dark turbulent eddies and swirled into her. Still kneeling with eyes closed, Ceres clenched her fists at her side. Waithe put on a hint of a smile. He knew his daughter's strategy, allowing Raste to expend himself before she countered. If only she could hold firm. He willed the visions to come again, those of their more recent times together.

Ceres woke to the sunshine that streamed into the small cabin. Her eyes were drawn to a baby boy bouncing on Waithe's lap, the one she rescued from the Taint the previous evening. A joyful smile emerged on the small face and swept through his whole body, warming her heart.

Having just been rescued from the Overlord's jail by a rather unique squad, Ceres' heart lifted as she entered the room. The dark-haired little girl bounded into her arms and embraced her. Ceres kissed the girl's head and said, "Eira, thank you for coming for me. I was so scared, and I so missed you."

Ceres leaned back against Alden under the light of a full moon. He stroked her hair while pulling her tight to him. She hummed softly to the pleasant sensations, then turned to press her lips against his.

Another vision came to Waithe and Ceres, this one not from either of them, but from Eira's perspective. Waithe held back his smile. It must have come from the Woman of Light, the future Eira from an alternate timeline. She must be sharing in the visions.

Alden held the little girl on his lap. "Be you ready, little Eira?" She replied, "Aye, Daddy." The Spirit Phy appeared before them. Alden nudged her. The little girl produced her characteristic impish grin and waved through the vision.

Raste ceased his Darkness attack and pulled back his hands. A toothy grin rose on his wrinkled face. "Rise, my dear. Let us bring the ultimate order to the Realm and we shall rule it together."

Ceres stood slowly with her head downcast and blonde hair spilling over her shoulders. Waithe and Kori gasped at the pitch blackness of her eyes. A shadow crossed Waithe's heart. Had they failed?

Streaks of dark blue came to her eyes. She took a deep breath and replied with a measured voice, "I think not."

Raste shook her by the shoulders, his teeth bared. He shouted, "You are the last Tau! This is your destiny! Our destiny!"

Ceres stepped back and lowered the right side of her dirty dress. With a thumb, she wiped off the fake Tau mark near her collarbone, then narrowed her eyes. "I chose my own destiny."

She stepped back one more pace and widened her arms. The iris of her eyes flashed back and forth between black and blue. "Now it is my turn."

The Darkness within her flared out, spiraling around her, and then rising to the high ceiling to spread across the top of the room like a churning black cloud. Her eyes turned back fully to their natural blue color.

Thick black wisps rose from Raste as he stumbled backwards against the desk. He snatched desperately at them, but each evaded his clutch like smoke. The three Medice Guards in the back of the room staggered as the Darkness fled them. Raste lifted his hands and the corrupted Spirits Ker and Nyx appeared, strobing their ash gray and violet lights, each laced with black. Ceres pulled out the Darkness from them as well.

The sunlight that lighted the room through two windows suddenly dimmed, as if blocked by a dark storm cloud. Dark it was, Waithe thought, but a different kind of weather. The Darkness lifted everywhere it hid, rushing to Raste's aid, but Ceres held it back. Black streams surged in through the windows, adding to the raging opaque mass above them.

The Darkness roiled in angry defiance. Black claws swiped at the young woman who defied its will, but each was turned away. Ceres raised her arms. The black cloud compressed. Hot violent turbulence fought back against the force that would confine it. She moved her hands closer together and the Darkness became a single globe of pure black.

"Be gone." She whispered as her hands came together over her head. With an audible pop, the Darkness disappeared, and the sun again brightened the room.

The Spirits Nyx and Ker, now cleansed of the Darkness, vanished.

Raste's jaw dropped as he slumped against the desk and struggled to catch his breath. His face seemed paler than ever. "No! We were meant for greatness!"

Ceres staggered as she shook her head. "There is no greatness to your desires. You, more than any man, have my pity."

Raste grimaced as he flicked his hand toward the guards beside Waithe. As the guard beside him lifted a sword, Waithe swung around his hidden knife and buried it in the guard's thigh. The guard collapsed to the floor in a cry of pain, writhing and clutching his leg. The other guard beside Kori drew his long-knife, but before he could fully lift it, Waithe was upon him. The two men dropped to the floor as they wrestled over control of the long-knife, each with a hand on the hilt.

Raste staggered forward and pulled his own blade out of the desk top. Grabbing Ceres' hair, he jerked her head back, putting the knife to her throat. She gasped, but had no strength to resist. He sneered, "If you will not accept your destiny, then no more shall you trouble me."

Waithe looked on in horror. In the midst of his own fight, there was no way he could prevent the cut of Raste's knife.

Raste jerked and gasped, turning his head. The knife tumbled out of his hand, clattering to the hard floor. Kori stood beside him, clutching the hilt of the sword the first guard had dropped, the blade now bloody. The Shaman put a hand to his side, blood leaking out between his fingers. The sword dropped to the floor with a metallic clang as it slipped from Kori's hands while she stepped back, her eyes wide. Raste took a single wobbling step before his eyes rolled back in his head and he collapsed to the floor.

In a surge of determination, Waithe flipped over the guard and wrested the long-knife from him. The guard gulped and held out his hands as the tip pressed against the underside of his chin. Waithe waved the knife aside and issued a single command. "Leave!"

Both Waithe and Kori caught Ceres as she slumped back. Her eyes lost their focus as the color drained from her face. Waithe carried her to the desk and gently laid her down. She shuddered, her breathing becoming shallow and then halted.

An deep anguish gripped Waithe. He said a silent prayer, 'Please, my daughter, hang on...'

Kori pointed at him. "Your hands..."

He held up his hands. Shimmering white sparks circled them. Magic. He placed this hands on his daughter, and in his thoughts, pleaded to the Woman of Light, 'Help me Eira. I know not how to wield the Magic'. The white shimmer surrounded Ceres for a moment, then faded away.

Ceres jolted up, her head bent back, as she pulled a large breath. As she settled back down, her eyes blinked open. "Father?"

He took up her hand and smiled. "It be done, my dear daughter. Rest easy now."

One of the Medice Guard, a man with thick red hair and long trimmed mustache, knelt beside Quar who laid twisted on the floor. His bushy eyebrows pulled together above eyes now free of the Darkness. "Reverend, are you--"

She silenced him with a twisted bony hand. Her voice was raspy. "Sergeant, listen carefully. All charges against Lady Ceres are now dismissed and she is fully restored to the Order of Medice. You and the others shall see to her well being and safety." She pointed toward Waithe. "Waithe Rand is appointed Captain of the Guard and you shall answer to his command. Do you understand, Sergeant?"

He bowed his head. "Aye, Reverend."

Quar called out. "Waithe?"

He left Ceres in Kori's care and knelt beside the Medice Reverend across from the Sergeant. He took up her contorted hand. Quar asked, "Ceres... How is she?"

"She sleeps deeply. Facing so much Darkness drained her."

Quar smiled, but only half her gaunt face responded. "Tell her for me... Tell her I am proud of her. That she returned honor to the Order of Medice."

"My dear Quar, tell her yourself. Would you not call a Life Spirit to heal yourself?"

Quar struggled to reach up and touch Waithe's cheek. "Nay. What is wrought by the Spirit Ker cannot be undone, like death itself. My life ends. Thank you, Waithe, for your kindness and allowing me a measure of redemption." Her hand slipped away as her eyes closed. No more breath passed her lips.

The Sergeant drew his lips tight as he caught Waithe's eye. "What be your orders, sir?"

"Round up your men, Sergeant. We depart soon."

Waithe stood to return to his daughter's side. Her chest rose and fell slowly, her sleep peaceful.

He turned to the other woman beside him and put a hand on her shoulder. "Kori, you saved my daughter's life and I shall be forever grateful. You be more than welcome to come with us. We would find you good work at the Order of Medice or in the household of Lord Girald."

She smiled as she shook her head. "I be thankful as well. Thank you for the offer, but nay. My home be here and I would help rebuild it."

He nodded. "Aye. Then seek out one named Graham, the director of the Freedom Alliance. Tell him of all that occurred here. His wife, Gracie, works at a clinic near the burned-out foundry. We shall take you there."

As Kori nodded, Waithe scanned the room. He frowned as one thing caught his eye immediately. Only a smear of blood remained where Raste had fallen. A trail of blood droplets led to a small hidden door at the side of the room, one that would have been unnoticeable had it not been open. Kori's jaw dropped as she observed the same thing.

Suddenly to Waithe, all motion in the room suddenly stopped. One of the Medice Guards froze mid-stride. The flare of Kori's hair as she turned held stationary in mid-air. He grinned as he swung his head around. "My Eira with the Spirit Aon, I presume."

Waithe jumped back in shock as he turned. The Woman of Light no longer shone with the brightness of Magic. Now before him stood a trembling frail young woman, with skin blotched, long dark hair thinned, and face bruised. It was as if her body withered with disease. The Spirit Aon floated beside her.

Waithe was barely able to utter a word. "Eira? What...?"

She dipped her head. "It be said that no man or woman may touch the pool of Magic. This is why." A smile rose. "We did it, Grandfather. All of us."

Eira staggered, but as Waithe reached out to steady her, his hand passed through her body as if she was a ghost. "Your body..."

"My timeline ends. My quest and purpose now be complete, all is as it should be."

Eira pulled out of the embrace and cupped Ceres' cheek with her hand. She trembled. "Do not tell my mother of this me. Let her raise the new me unencumbered by thoughts of my horrible path." A small smile came to her. "Although beware, I may become a difficult teenager, and when I do begin to speak, I won't stop." She returned to Waithe and put a hand on his arm, but he did not feel the touch. "Do not grieve for me, grandfather. As one timeline ends, another begins anew, a much better one. I love you."

She smiled again as her form faded, dissolving in the air to a nothingness. The Spirit Aon then disappeared and time around him began again. A tear ran down his cheek. He whispered to the air, "I love you, too, granddaughter."

Kori asked, "Waithe? You be well?"

He wiped the tear from his cheek. "Aye. All be well."

"Where would you go now? The mountain passes to lands east will be closed with snow."

Waithe smiled. "I know a place not far away, where the doors will open to us and the ale be exceptionally good."