Forever Green

~ 54 ~ This Sudden, Surging Tide

"You've come at last to your senses, I see," a voice hissed from the shadows before a dark-mottled hand reached out, pulling Lenesa in and tugging off one of her gloves.

It was the mirage witch. She held Lenesa's hand, her fingers tracing over the shadows that writhed beneath Lenesa's skin.

"We are the same now, you and I," the other witch continued. "Now that you've accepted the truth. It is a cold, cruel world we live in, but sacrifices must be made for the greater good."

Lenesa let the mirage witch trace over the shadows just a few moments longer before pulling away. "I came to kill the witch hunter's leader," she said, her voice carrying no life in its tone. "What happens after that doesn't matter."

The other witch revealed a sharp grin, offering Lenesa back her glove. "I'm Nua. And you are...?"

"Lenesa."

"Well, Lenesa. I have a feeling you'll quite like what happens after," Nua said. "We won't let those devils get away with their murderous schemes. I'm going to slaughter them all – and you can join me!"

Nua laughed – a high, crackling cry that teetered on the edge between control and insanity. Lenesa briefly wondered how long ago Nua had Turned and what had made her do so, but the thought flickered through her tired mind for only a moment, leaving as soon as it found no place to plant itself and root into a more substantial worry.

The only thing she could care about right now was Decliteur. He had to be stopped – and if Theiden got in her way, then so be it.

"This way," Nua hissed, suddenly taking Lenesa's hand and pulling her up the road. "They'll all be gathered together this night!"

Lenesa let herself be led through the city, distracted by the chill in the air despite the summer season. The festival seemed quieter this night as they neared the plaza – rather than shouts and songs, there was just a feverish buzz of voices, like an agitated hive.

Lenesa pulled back. "Nua, wait," she said. "We should go in quietly. Something's not right."

A muscle in Nua's jaw twitched, but she nodded, and they tightened the hoods of their cloaks in unison and slowly walked through the columns and into the crowd.

The stage was empty.

There were still scorch marks on the platform from the explosion Nua had caused, but otherwise the structure was sound. At this time of the evening, and with this many people gathered in the plaza, there should have been some spectacle or another.

The buzzing of voices pressed against the back of Lenesa's mind like the clash from a powerful witch's aura – unshakeable and oppressive. The lack of something screamed danger, something slightly out-of-place like in the forest all those years ago. Just a single moment of something wrong could change everything.

The voices of the crowd crashed and ebbed around her, sharp consonants cresting over softer vowels like an endless barrage of waves against a ship. Lenesa tried to focus on the words that were slippery in her panic, and then finally caught one – witchcraft.

She gasped.

Of course Nua's act the other night would have had consequences. The townspeople wouldn't forget an incident like the fire so easily. But where was Decliteur, then? If they were concerned about magic, they should have been flocking to him, their shepherd to protect them from the perceived wolves.

But no matter how much Lenesa craned her neck to look around the plaza, she couldn't find the formidable witch hunter.

"Do you think what he showed us was true?" someone near Lenesa muttered to their companion. Lenesa shrunk away from the voice for fear of being discovered, but her curiosity kept her just within earshot to hear the reply.