The archmage turned to face me. “Lady Saintess, I trust you know what needs to be done. I will create an opportunity.”

  The crowd, now openly concerned, began to make their way out of the chapel.

  The duchess summoned flame from her fingertips. “You will not interfere!” she snarled at the archmage and I stepped back instinctively, clearing the path between her and Atropa.

  While the archmage focused on distracting the duchess, I took the opportunity to devise a plan. Obviously, we needed to defeat Coroban, but how? Simple magic would not be sufficient against her, and I lacked a weapon. As my thoughts raced, spears of flame and coiling hooks of lightning flew back and forth down the aisle, setting the carpet and curtains ablaze.

  Coroban whipped around to face me. “What am I thinking? I need only finish what I started.” She strode down the aisle, easily shrugging off the archmage’s onslaught, and grabbed me by the neck and lifted me into the air. With her fingers wrapped around my throat, she dragged me back to the altar.

  Atropa summoned two giant pillars of ice which encased the duchess’ legs and locked her in place, at least for the moment. He shouted, “get on with it already!”, but my lungs were empty and my vision was fading. I clawed at her hand with my fingernails, but she held firm.

  Duchess Coroban stared at me and frowned. “If you’d just go along with it, everything would be fine…”

  I was missing something. But what? As I felt my mind cloud over, I tried desperately to recall this part of the novel, but the only thing that came to mind was the expression on XXXXX’s face when I last saw her and how much I wanted to see it again.

  The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Words rose unbidden from deep in my chest, rising through my throat, bubbling like acid. “A star shines high in the heavens, burning red.”

  Radiant light erupted all around us, piercing through the roof of the chapel and searing the duchess’s skin. Coroban screamed in agony as the light grew brighter and frantically grasped at the tendrils of shadow that were now fleeing her body. I fell to the ground.

  Now, only a fraction of the duchess remained. “Please… I’ll do anything…” she begged pathetically.

  She crumpled at my feet and weakly grabbed onto my legs.

  “Sorry, Your Grace. But I already have someone waiting for me.” And with that, I kicked her away.

  Finally, after one hundred years, Duchess Coroban drew her last breath.

  The archmage waved me towards the exit with his staff. “You probably shouldn’t be here when they discover what remains of Coroban’s body.”

  The two of us boarded Atropa’s waiting carriage and set off for the north. I expected Solana would send her men to the duchess’s estate once Rosa brought word, so I didn’t worry myself with the details.

  ------

  The journey to the archmage’s residence took around two days. After a few failed attempts at conversation, Atropa finally gave up and left me to my thoughts, and we traveled the rest of the way in silence. We stopped at many inns along the way, and while word of the duchess’s fate had reached one of the security checkpoints we passed, the guardsmen were largely uninterested in causing trouble for an archmage and a saintess, allowing us to pass through unhindered.

  Snow fell heavily all around us as we neared the estate, and the resulting chill made me shiver. I wished I had at least brought a blanket along, but Atropa warmed the cabin safely with his magic, which was enough to keep us from freezing.

  The carriage came to a halt. As I stepped down into the snow, I stopped to take a deep breath. The dry, cold air drew a cough from my lungs.

  This is the last one. The end is in sight.