Page 28 of The Witch & the Grizzly

Greer let out a rather dramatic sigh. “The youth these days rarely respect their elders. Normally, I’d be proud – my descendants are there in that crowd. But it works against us. Is this the fate we must suffer? To watch the youth burn things to the ground because we started it first?” She didn’t appear sad or depressed, just… contemplative.

“What about killing them?” Nathan asked, and more than a few eyes turned to him in annoyance.

“It’s not easy to do that. You can’t just shoot one and call it a day. And too many deaths simply will collapse the realm as it is constructed partly out of our collective will and presence. Without us, there would be nothing.”

Loud footsteps cut through the conversations as a huntswoman hurried in, her eyes wide and frantic. “Lords, ladies! We have a problem! A big problem!” she gasped, and all conversation died as everyone fixated on the interloper.

“What?” Aelund said in an icy tone. He didn’t much appreciate being interrupted.

“The castle! It’s being destroyed!”

“What?” Aelund stood up, bowling over a couple of his closest followers. “That’s impossible. It’s enchanted.”

“It’s very possible! We must clear out of here right away, lest we be caught in it.”

“Nonsense. Someone go and inspect…”

“Do you know what’s destroying the castle?” Morgryn asked, cutting through some of the nervous whispers.

“I…” the huntswoman swallowed. “It looked like… the blight from beyond the woods.”

“Aha!” Morgryn stood up as well. “You’re saying that everything we’ve just been trying to warn the court about – the destruction of our realm — is happening to the very heart of our society?”

“Why, you!” Aelund spluttered, but more than a few of the youth stared, panicked, as veins of darkness appeared through the walls, starting to eat up the main courtroom.

“This is what I warned against!” Morgryn bellowed. “This is why I signed that accursed treaty! Do you think I enjoyed it? That I wanted to? No! I did it rather than lose everything we are! Now, let us disperse! I’ll create a portal for us just outside, by the beach.”

Morgryn strode purposely to the middle of the court, weaving a perfect portal with his magic, showing the blurry image of a gray-scaled beach beyond. Without hesitation, the fae began filtering through it as part of the courtroom collapsed, and more of the blackness crept through.

Nathan joined the throng of fae escaping through the portal, worried out of his mind for Eva. She still hadn’t been found, and without any way of reaching her, he had no way to know how she was.

If only he’d somehow stood his ground with her. Maybe they’d both have been arrested together. But he didn’t know if they would have treated her fairly, and she’d bolted away in all the confusion.

He arrived on the gray beach, moving out of the way as more fae popped through. The castle loomed, but it had drastically been transformed. Half of it appeared to have rotted away, exposed to the air, and the woodland closest to it had melted into blackened stumps.

“What monstrous disease is this!” One younger fae wailed, holding their palms up in despair. “Why is this happening?”

“I told you!” Morgryn bellowed. “This is the effect of our dabbling too much! This is what’s been happening to the mortal realm. Now it happens more to ours, too! Our realms are set for collision, and it will not be pretty. Because you all continued to indulge and listen to Aelund, this is the result! Our ancient castle, which has stood for thousands of years, is gone!”

Most of the fae seemed numbed, shocked. A huge monument to them was vanishing before their eyes.

Morgryn took advantage of the despair to push forward his piece. “Join me. Reinstate me. I’ll sign the treaty again; I’ll apologize and sympathize with all the other idiot faes in their courts. I’ll do all the disgustingly boring work that none of you wants to do. Besides, I didn’t finish my term. If you see the realm heal, you’ll know I was right all along. Join me.”

At least half of the youth broke away from Aelund, who sputtered, and they stood closer to Morgryn.

The tides were turning – and soon Aelund stood all alone, aside from one woman who stared at him like a defiant lover.

“That’s that, then.” Morgryn stepped forward. “I won’t lock you up and throw away the key. I won’t arrest you, even though that’s what you did to me. I’m sure you loved your little power trip, but it’s gone too far. Can you not see?”

Aelund glared between Morgryn and the decaying castle. With over half of it eaten away, it crashed and buckled under its own weight with a huge boom and plume of dust into the atmosphere. Reluctantly, Aelund handed over the crown to Morgryn, who placed it back on his head.

“Thank you.” He bowed his head to Aelund, who didn’t bow back. “I’ll send you back to your respective areas, safe from here. I may call upon some of you in the next few days. There’s much work to be done to recall some of the ones who are still out there making deals. And I’m going to have to reply to some of the angry letters that you’ve been ignoring, most likely,” he said to Aelund, who simply stared sullenly, stripped of all his toys and power in a single sweep.

Morgryn began to open up more portals, saying, “For now, I propose the new court meet in the Green Man’s Eye. The mansion there isn’t quite as impressive or big as the castle, but it should suffice until we eventually grow another one.”

No one disagreed. Morgryn’s main followers chattered in relieved excitement, and Greer shook her head. “What bloody timing. I almost think you’d set it up.”

“Unfortunately, I didn’t,” Morgryn said after a pause. “I’d come in fully prepared to discuss. I didn’t think the issue plaguing the academy would also hit here.”

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