The women were surrounded by a glowing golden shield of half a dozen layers that moved independently of each other, surrounded by dozens of small orbiting balls of snapping lightning and smokey hazy flames. When the women weren’t immediately attacked the shield dropped to a single layer and the orbiting balls dissipated. Raelea wasn’t surprised, the intensity of the magic required by that shield was immense, it made perfect sense to drop it when it wasn’t needed.

Concentrating briefly she sent to Pif, “Bad-old-master is here, it is time.” She sent an image of the group along with the message.

She received back, “Burnyburnyburnburnburn!” Along with anticipation and joy, he really was a strange little creature.

She saw him creep out of his hiding place and up the stairs then with a grin he popped up out of the stairwell and an enormous fireball howled across the short distance before it engulfed the group who were starting to look around and move.

The single layer shield popped and as expected the false god and the witches weren’t even singed, Pif had been instructed to hold back. Raelea wanted the group split and their attention divided, hopefully they’d see him as only a Goblin and underestimate him.

Only Siupo suffered from the weakened fireball, her clothes and hair flared and she fell to the ground wailing and rolling as smoke streamed off her.

As soon as they turned to look where the fireball came from Pif threw his hands into the air and squealing ran back down the stairs as fast as his short legs would carry him.

She gave a sigh of relief, he'd done exactly as he’d been exhaustively coached to do, while practising more than half the time he'd forgotten his instructions and gone on a full offensive as soon as the false god looked at him, he had some history with Fae Chanar it seemed. She didn’t know what but he always avoided thinking about them and when he did the normal placidity of his mind went red with rage. Thankfully he’d controlled himself and her plan was still on track.

The false god touched Elsabeth, one of the older witches, on the elbow and said, “Take Jullis and Vanta, follow that thing, kill it and find out what’s in the cellar. If the Viper is down there come back instantly, she’s mine.”

Elsabeth gathered two younger witches who’d been apprentices with Raelea and headed down the stairs.

That left only the false god, the Elder Witch and one younger witch that Raelea didn’t know.

That wasn’t right, half a dozen witches was not enough for a healthy tribe. Before she’d fled there had been over a dozen witches in her tribe and their apprentices. Also Aignew was a rogue familiar, he was a spirit and the false god knew that. Where were the Shaman? She refused to believe the false god would not have brought them because she was no idiot, incredibly arrogant but certainly not an idiot.

Raelea had been suspicious already because while she’d never asked Aignew about that night, knowing him as well as she did now she’d never asked because she didn’t want to know. She knew he’d slaughtered whole tribes before, he’d told her so and why would hers be any different?

But, you couldn’t hold a storm accountable for the destruction it wrought and like a storm he was an elemental force, he only acted as was his nature. Raelea’s eyes narrowed in her burrow and her anger grew. The blame for her tribe’s destruction could be laid squarely at the feet of the vile creature standing in the middle of her place.

Also at her own feet but she’d have to make her peace with that knowledge over however long it took.

But the other, the false god standing arrogantly in the middle of her place? That creature was about to be punished for her actions. Right now.

Raised voices shouting aggressively came from the stairwell, then a hard smile lit Raelea’s face as a note of panic entered them.

A pillar of fire so fierce it looked solid shot from the stairwell and brief, faint, agonised screams could be heard under it’s roar. The surround and even the solid stone of the stairs themselves shimmered with blazing heat once it was gone.

Raelea felt Pif’s mental touch, “Bads be burnyburned nice-nice. Tired, I go hide and rest.”

“Very well done! You go rest, you deserve it.”

She received a feeling and an image, satisfaction and the hidden door closing again.

He’d certainly earned his rest, he’d cost the attackers half their numbers.

She sent to Aignew where he rested in the slime, “Time to feast, on my mark.”

She received back, “About time.” and a horrific feeling of hunger.

“3, 2, 1, mark.”

She triggered two of her rituals and felt a rush of power as the first activated, destroying the weaker spirits hovering around the Witches outright and pushing the stronger away, out past the other wards around the island The other ritual covered the island in a flat white glare that would block all vision for a short time, even magical vision.

She and Aignew were also outside the ward, her because after Aignew had infused her with his spirit stuff the ward would push her as well and she was not insubstantial. Aignew though, he was out here to feed.

A tingling rush of power made her back arch against the smooth stone inside her burrow and she grunted as she rode the peak of it. As it slowed she sent, “What was THAT!”

Aignew replied, “The familiars are no more, one was almost a match for me and the fight was hard but I prevailed. Likely it was an heirloom spirit passed from Elder Witch to Elder Witch over generations. Disgusting.”

The glow of her second ritual faded slowly as it’s materials burned out, when her scrying returned she saw the Elder Witch and the younger one on their knees, trembling. The false god’s head darted around looking for something, anything, to take her rage out on. Flames roiled over her form and whips of lightning snapped against he ground around her feet.

Wherever her gaze travelled a smoking trail followed.

But she was looking away from the willow focusing instead on the tent, the wall, and the cellar.

Reaching into her pouch Raelea palmed two of the three smooth egg sized stones in there, the false god had protections that would not allow anything to strike her. These stones carried a shield-breaking charm, she had made more than two dozen of these stones but only three hadn’t crumbled to dust under the magic’s corrupting touch.

She crawled from her burrow, one stone cupped in the pouch of her sling and the other in her offhand.

Nervous, trembling, and feeling like she was about to empty the contents of her stomach on the ground she stepped out of the trailing branches of the willow behind her target. Then she took a breath held it for a moment… her sling whirred gently and she fired.

The whirr, her terrified haste, and her nerves spoiled her shot.

The false god turned at the sound, not much but enough. Her aim was off because she hurried the shot, not much but enough and her nerves meant the shot was not carrying all the power it could be, not by much but certainly by enough.

Eyes widening in surprise the false god gasped as the stone punched a hole through her shield and hammered into her ribs low on her left side. The sound of that groaning gasp was music to Raelea’s ears as the whites of her eyes showed and she collapsed to the ground. Maybe she would survive this horrible mistake after all.

Raelea pulled her knife and started sprinting toward the downed false god. Her knife carried the same shield breaker so if she could just get close enough before the false god recovered she could still end her.

Then the young witch surged from her feet, going from trembling and shaking at the loss of her familiar to attacking ferociously so quickly she had to have been faking. The only way that was possible was if she’d already broken her bond, but Raelea wouldn’t have thought any witch would go that far even for someone they considered a God.

Raelea was struck with fear, fighting this witch would let the false god recover and when she did Raelea knew she was not a match for the false god in a straight up fight. Even if she got lucky she probably wouldn’t be able to secure the kill, only drive her away. The false god was an Air Realm user and they could all teleport, Raelea had a ward up to stop teleportation but the false god had already teleported past it once, likely without even noticing.

Wait… her spirit sight was showing her that this was no Witch with living flows of magic filling her protections and bolstering them while keeping them safe from outside meddling, instead this was a poor, crippled, thing. Her protections were static, unable to be repaired, bolstered, or protected as a true Witch would during a fight. This poor crippled thing could no more fight as a Witch would than she could fly simply by flapping her arms.

Normally in a fight between witches, unless one witch was much stronger it was suicide to directly attack their protections. But this was no witch, instead this was just a poor, crippled, thing.

At a word that tore the air, her protections were stripped. Another that resonated in the bones and the curses struck.

The crippled thing’s knees hit the ground and she jackknifed, driving her face into the dirt, she was blind, mute, deaf, paralysed and bleeding from her ears, nose, eyes and her pores even before she’d fallen.

Shaking her head, Raelea felt a measure of sympathy for that poor, crippled, thing, utterly duped by a being who cared nothing for her. She was just a tool, an easily broken and discarded tool.

That measure of sympathy dropped into the wide and deep sea of slowly rolling sullen rage that had been filling drop by drop every time she happened to think about this false god’s actions.

That tiny splash of sympathy for a crippled, duped, tool fell into that sullen rolling sea and ignited it. Raelea flushed as rage warmed her.

That rage, that anger, that hatred filled her mind and her spirit and suddenly she knew what she had to do. The false god’s entire species were a blight upon the world and needed to be broken.

Aignew knew then well, he’d shared stories and his memories of them. He’d shared their excesses, their cruelties, in truth this false god was one of the more moderate and some others were far worse. But to the last they were self-interested, self-absorbed and incapable of considering any other race as anything but things for their use.

To the Fae Chanar only Fae Chanar were people.

Her rage abruptly calmed and she felt the deep learnings stir and she knew she’d found a worthy cause.

Focusing on the knowledge the deep learnings provided she gasped at the price she must pay but taking a deep breath she accepted it and was shown the path she must take. It was long and many parts were shrouded in darkness or unclear but the first steps were perfectly clear.

The false god was stirring. Blurring with speed, her sling whirred again and this time the shot was perfect. Flying true, it struck the false god in the forehead, shattering her skull like a dropped melon.

The False God fell to her face.

Not even bothering to look Raelea contacted Aignew and Pif, “I have been given a cause. We must go. Pffbt we need to go to the place of the bad-old-masters.”

His mental voice was faintly whiny as he replied, “Don’t wanna. Bad-old-master scary, they hurt Pffbt. Stay here be safe, be happy.”

Aignew sent, “Why? Our only danger lies dead at your feet, we are safe. We can live here happily until the end of our days.”

Through the link she could feel the confusion they shared at being in agreement about anything. Rather than argue she showed them the first steps of the path and the ultimate aim the deep learnings had given her. Not the cost though, that was for her alone.

Aignew sent, “Oh, as we must then.” and he settled into his accustomed place at the back of her mind.

“Burnyburn all bad-old-master? Never fear [screamingagonyhelplessacceptance] again for self or friend?” His thoughts changed from their normal muddled mess to something with the clarity and hardness of the crystal he’d gifted her, “The need is clear. What must be we will achieve with the aid of those we meet. Agreed.”

Raelea jerked with shock but then the clarity faded and his thoughts became their normal soft, jumbled mess.

She sent, “What was that?!”

She could feel Pif’s confusion as he sent. “What, what?”

Putting it aside as something to investigate later she sent, “Nevermind, collect your things we’ll go as soon as we’re packed.”

“Ok, nice-nice.”

She called Horse with a small casting, in under half an hour she was packed ready to go and so was Pif who’d run around collecting his ‘treasures’ and hiding them in her bags.

She mentally nudged the small Goblin who threw his arms wide and shouted words that reverberated in the air, a spinning circle of orange Fire and dull grey Death hung in front of him. With a final shouted commend the interior cracked and fell showing a meadow covered in gently swaying grasses surrounded by a forest of tall trees. The same rearing mountain range stood to the north but in that far Realm they were only snow-capped, here they were still pure white.

Ignoring the Elder Witch who still knelt trembling and shaking where she’d fallen Raelea led Horse through the circle with Pif bouncing on his back.